


Scooby-Dooby-Oops

by ughineedcoffee



Series: The Runt of the Litter [32]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Comedy, Crushes, Dean Being Dean, Episode: s13e16 Scoobynatural, Gen, Protective Sam Winchester, Winchester Sister, little sister - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 22:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 13,579
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29740815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ughineedcoffee/pseuds/ughineedcoffee
Summary: Basically the episode Scoobynatural but with Anna in it. She's nineteen in this story.
Series: The Runt of the Litter [32]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2112966
Kudos: 6





	Scooby-Dooby-Oops

**Author's Note:**

> Hey, guys! Sorry it's coming later in the day, but I had my first shift at my part-time job this morning, and I've been kept very busy with homework since the semester started a few days ago. Also, I'm sorry for the title, but my sleep-deprived, over-caffeinated brain is convinced it's a little funny.   
> Hope you enjoy this!

**Scooby-Dooby-Oops** (what is wrong with me)

"Wait a second. Lemme get this straight," Anna said, following her brothers and the _beautiful ginormous TV_ they'd brought back with them from town down the hallway. "You took out a giant dinosaur plushie..."

"Uh-huh," both boys grunted and started trying to maneuver the TV through a doorway.

"Watch it," Dean growled at Sam when he got a little too eager and nearly bumped his corner of the TV against the wall.

"And you came back with a giant TV?"

"Uh-huh," they both grunted back at her again.

"Don't get how that's so hard to follow," Dean grumbled at her. They finally got the TV angled correctly, and he backed through the doorway with it. He handled the thing almost as gently as a loaded gun. It made Anna want to roll her eyes.

"I'm sorry if I'm confused," she quipped with all the sass in the world. "You were supposed to be getting dinner. If I'd have known there would be killer plushies, I'd have come along."

"It _was_ the most cushion-y tackle I've ever experienced," Sam smirked at her.

It was hard for Anna to stay irritated when he got that glimmer in his eyes. Maybe she should stop worrying about the details and enjoy one of the first happy afternoons they'd had in a while. They'd come back with a gorgeous TV, and they were setting it up in what had long been their makeshift family room, replacing the much smaller TV they'd used there since moving in. Sam's room would no longer be home to the biggest TV in the bunker. The thought made Anna want to squeal, but that would be childish, so she didn't do it.

Then again, Dean was acting pretty giddy about it as they set it down and immediately started to hook it up, so maybe she could get away with some excited squealing.

"You both look way too happy about this," Sam said with a weary shake of his head. "I'm gonna go do some research, figure out why that plushie attacked us."

Anna giggled. "That's a weird sentence," she said by way of explanation when she got two confused looks.

Dean grinned over at Sam who made for the doorway, looking unamused.

"Wait, hang on. Don't you at least want to see it turn on?" Anna enticed. "It's gonna be beautiful."

Sam rolled his eyes, but he turned around and watched Dean finish tinkering with the wires. "Make it quick," he sighed.

Anna rolled her eyes at his sudden grumpiness and watched Dean pop up from behind the TV. "Ready?" she asked, excitement shining in her eyes.

"Oh yeah," Dean replied and picked up the remote from beside the TV. "Let's turn her on."

Anna wrinkled her nose at what sounded like an innuendo and was grateful that Dean didn't acknowledge her reaction. Things tended to get awkward whenever Sam or Dean realized she'd caught on to a sex joke, intentional or unintentional. She was the youngest like that, and they just didn't seem to get that she was an adult and was bound to understand this stuff eventually, asexual or not.

Dean hit the power button and frowned. He pressed the button again, then looked down at the remote and scratched his head.

"Maybe you need to calibrate the remote," Anna suggested helpfully.

"Cali- It came with the damn thing, Anna. I do not need to _calibrate the remote_ -"

"Well, I'm just throwin' out ideas, man. Don't get all butt-hurt just because your precious TV is a piece of junk-"

"Oh, you did _not_ just say that-"

"Uh, guys," Sam muttered beside them.

"Well, it doesn't work!"

"It will! I probably need to check the wires in the back, and-"

"Guys!"

"What?" They both turned to look at Sam with identical sour expressions on their faces.

Sam just pointed at the TV. Purple lights like something out of a sci-fi movie were zapping back and forth across the front of the TV screen.

"What the fu-?" Anna didn't get any further before a strange sensation overtook her and she blinked only to find her surroundings completely altered. She looked up slowly and screamed in time with both her brothers.

"You're a cartoon!" they all shouted at each other, then looked down at themselves. "I'm a cartoon!"

"Wicked," Anna breathed, looking around.

"Uh, is- is- is this... okay. This is a dream." She could hear Sam's panic, and turned around just in time to see Dean slap their brother hard across the face. She winced in sympathy for Sam, bringing her fist to her mouth as a giant hand-shaped dent was left in his face. "Dude!" Sam shouted and then shook his head. The handprint went away, and Anna's jaw-dropped in shock.

"This is straight-up legendary," she breathed again, looking between them. The boys were ignoring her, though.

"It's not a dream," Dean said, looking as much in awe as she was. "Holy crap."

"This is... uh... You saw that light?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, we totally got _fwoosh_ ed right into the TV," Anna said around an increasingly wide grin. "This is the weirdest, coolest day ever."

"Okay, we don't know it was the TV," Dean pointed out. "Maybe this is an angel thing. Or, uh, the trickster."

"He's dead."

"Or is he?"

Anna fixed Dean with an unimpressed look as Sam said, "What the hell, Dean?"

It was true that all of the weirdest things they'd been through had been a product of either angel or arch-angel power-- the trickster, also known as Gabriel, being the common denominator in most of those situations. But they'd seen that purple light and felt an electric buzz, all originating from their new TV-- and yes, Anna was claiming part ownership. She was pretty sure the TV was at fault here. She only hoped whatever was wrong with it could be fixed so they could keep it. It was so big and beautiful, and it would improve their viewing experience on movie nights by _so much_.

"I don't know, Sam," Dean grumbled. He started to look around, and Anna followed suit.

"Woah," they both breathed at once. The Impala sat parked a little ways away, looking as cartoon-y as they did.

"How'd the car get here?" Sam asked as if any of them had the answer.

"I had the keys in my pocket?" Dean offered.

"Is that seriously what you wanna worry about right now?" Anna challenged.

"Okay, look, are we animated? Yes. Is it weird? Yes."

"It's beyond weird, Dean," Sam interrupted.

"And beyond weird is what we do. Whatever this is, we'll figure it out. This is a case. Let's work it."*

"How?" Sam pressed.

Anna nodded along and threw her hands up. "We're literally in a cartoon," she pointed out. "You probably can't kill a monster in a cartoon. I mean, it's violent, right?" By her standards, The Walking Dead wasn't that graphic, but she figured anything rated PG or lower probably couldn't have violence in it. If you can't curse, you can't kill anything. That thought got her going again. She frowned at Dean. "And you swear too much. Hell, I swear too much." Her eyes widened. "Fuck, I just did it." They nearly popped out of her skull. "Shit, I did it again." She slapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my god. Maybe it's fine," she justified. There were probably no kids actually _watching_ them, right? "It's probably fine. They can bleep this shit, right?"

Neither Sam nor Dean looked particularly concerned or amused by her curiosities, so Anna schooled her features and tried to look serious. It had been the same pattern since she joined the hunting squad last year. She was always joking around or going on tangents or rambling. It was unprofessional, and it made her feel like a rookie or, worse, a kid.

"Let's worry about one thing at a time," Dean said, pulling his keys out of his pocket. "And not the G-ratedness of this place," he added with a pointed look at Anna. "Let's just get in the car. See what we can see."

The Impala didn't look that much different. Just rather... cartoon-y. It otherwise had all the same features it'd had Anna's entire life. There were those little army men stuck in the ashtray and the rattling AC unit and the crayon scribbles on the ceiling over the backseat. But the angles of the seat and the way it felt under her were all just a little off. The radio still worked, at least, but Dean's taste in music hadn't miraculously changed, so they listened to Metallica for the few minutes it took before Dean pulled into a parking lot.

"A malt shop?" Sam asked in distaste. "Really?"

"Look, let's just head in, ask around, see what we can see."

Anna bobbed her eyebrows. There were worse plans, and she couldn't think of a better place to start. Sam looked skeptical as they all got out of the car, but he must have had the same thought, because he stayed quiet. The first outside, Anna swung her door shut and then gasped, flattening back against the car in total shock for a second. She leaned over to Sam and started swatting his arm and pointing, wordless.

"Oh my god," Dean breathed behind them.

"Th-that's-" Sam stammered.

"That's the Mystery Machine," Dean finished for him. "We're not just in any cartoon."

"We're in Scooby Doo."

Anna wondered briefly if she would pass out. Instead she looked the van up and down. "This day could not get more awesome," she decided aloud before hurrying inside ahead of the boys. If the Mystery Machine was outside, the scooby gang had to be inside. And that was just... That was like something out of a really good-- but also really weird-- dream.

"Oh my god, that's them!" she practically squealed as soon as they stepped inside. She immediately grew embarrassed. But Dean was right behind her and just as excited.

"That's the freaking scooby gang!"

"Great," Sam said. "So we're stuck in a cartoon with a talking dog."

"Not just any talking dog," Dean corrected, patting Sam on the shoulder. " _The_ talking dog. The greatest talking dog in history. Now, come on. Dibs on Daphney."

Anna's heart fluttered with realization. Dean might have dibs on Daphney, but she wasn't interested in her anyway. Daphne was supposed to be the hearthrob, all pretty and, well, Dean would probably call her hot, but Anna tried to avoid that word at all costs. She still wasn't sure she knew what people actually _meant_ when they said someone was hot. Velma, though. Velma was cute. And smart. And likeable. She had exactly the personality Anna had been searching for in a romantic partner since high school. The traits she'd never found. And Anna would be damned if she let the opportunity pass her by. She silently dared herself to get a kiss before they left.

"You can't call dibs on a human being," she called after Dean anyway, just on principle. Sam slung an arm over her shoulder and gave her a long-suffering look that said he was just as unimpressed with Dean in that moment as she was. But she didn't want to be grouped in with the buzzkill, so Anna shrugged him off. "I'm not gonna lie, man," she explained, hurrying after Dean, "I wanna meet Scooby Doo."

"Oh, man, this is like a dream come true," Dean said. She'd just escaped Sam's arm, and Dean immediately dropped _his_ arm over her shoulders when she and Sam caught up to him. It was habitual for them, and Anna knew that, but she didn't want Velma to meet her for the first time while she was tucked under her brother's arm like a kid. Anna didn't know how to look attractive to a woman in her twenties, but she figured acting as mature an adult as possible would be a good start.

"Your _dream_ is to hang out with the scooby gang?" Sam challenged, raising one eyebrow.

"Sam, growing up on the road, no matter where Dad dragged us, no matter what we did, there was always a TV. And you know what was always on that TV? Scooby and the Gang. These guys, they're our friggin' role models, man. Except Fred. He's a wad."

"He's... what?"

"That's Gen X speak for loser," Anna stage-whispered.

Dean scoffed at her. "Just think about it, though. We do the same thing. We go to spooky places, solve mysteries, hunt ghosts."

"Only we're better at it. 'Cause our plans make sense."

"And our ghosts don't wear masks," Sam said.

"Plus, no Scooby. Which actually makes us a little lame in comparison."

"I don't know," Dean said. "I mean, Cas is kind of like a talking dog. With angel mojo."

"Which is a little cooler. Wow, we're winning points," Anna grinned.

"Okay, how do I look?" Dean asked, stopping and stepping in front of them with his hands on his hips.

"Two-dimensional," Sam deadpanned.

"Perfect!" Dean stepped up to the table with the entire scooby gang sitting there. Everybody had milkshakes and looked content to be in each other's company.

It made Anna feel a little bad that they were gonna ruin it by butting in considering that they were total strangers to these guys. She didn't dwell on it, just quickly moved her hair so that her curls would fall over her shoulders and stepped up behind Dean to the table.

"Uh, hi," he greeted awkwardly. All eyes were on them in the next second. "Uh, I'm Dean. My brother, Sam. And sister, Anna. We, uh... mind if we join you?"

For a minute, Anna felt sure they were going to be turned away. But then Fred saved them, lame as he was. "Of course not," he said jovially. "There's plenty of room! I'm Fred. This is Velma-" Anna smiled shyly, hoping she wasn't blushing as much as she thought she was- "Shaggy, Scooby, and-"

"Daphne," Dean interrupted.

"Hmm?" Daphne looked confused.

Anna covered her mouth with one hand and looked in the other direction.

"Enchanté," she heard Dean say. She peeked up at Velma to make sure Dean wasn't ruining her image of their family. She was fully prepared to explain that he wasn't always like this, but she didn't have to. "Of course we know you," Dean said, composing himself. "You guys are famous."

"Famous?" Scooby echoed.

Anna looked at him in awe for a moment. It was one thing to know objectively that you were in the presence of a talking dog. It was another thing altogether to actually look at a dog and hear him speak.

"Like, the only thing we're famous for is our eating skills," Shaggy said and gestured to a wall behind them that was covered in pictures of he and Scooby achieving all sorts of feats having to do with food and eating contests.

"Yum, yum, yum," Scooby said, and Anna had to fight not to stare at him no matter _how_ badly she felt she should be trying to make an impression on Velma. She'd seen a lot of weird things in her lifetime, but sitting across from Scooby Doo and listening to him talk about food... That had to take the cake. At least for now.

"So, looks like you guys are celebrating something," Dean said.

"We are!" Velma said. Anna looked over at her, eyes softening in admiration. "We just found out that Scooby's been named as one of the heirs to a fortune, left to him by an old Southern colonel."

"That's fascinating," she said, leaning her elbow on the table and settling her chin in her palm. Sam nudged her, and Anna caught the look on his face which clearly said he could see her pulling a Dean. But it was different for her, or she thought it probably was anyway. She didn't like to think about what Dean usually wanted when he started flirting with somebody. But Anna wasn't interested in that. She just really wanted Velma to notice her. But she didn't want Sam to notice that she wanted Velma to notice her, so she blushed a little at the look he was giving her.

"Scooby saved him from drowning in a fish pond," Daphne chimed in on the other side of the table.

Anna swiveled to look at her, hopefully escaping Sam's scrutiny in the process.

"I'm a hero." And bam. The dog was talking again. Just like that, Anna was once again stuck staring at Scooby.

"Scooby," Fred buzzkilled like the loser that he was.

"Okay, okay, but he's dead now, right?" Sam asked. Anna turned to him with a look that said _what the hell, man?_ She'd thought Fred was a buzzkill.

"Uh, yeah," Fred said. "Uh... cancer."

The mood fell a mile, and Anna wasn't a bit surprised when Dean stood up and grabbed their brother by the arm to drag him away and give him a talking-to.

"So," she said, leaning back against the booth and looking between everyone before settling her gaze on Velma. "You guys must all be pretty psyched about this inheritance thing, huh?" She felt a hand wind into the back of her jacket and was tugged out of the booth with an awkward smile. "Excuse me," she snapped at Sam when they were far enough away. She straightened out her jacket and glared, but she was being ignored.

"You wanna pull that stick outta your... nether regions," Dean demanded of their brother.

"You can say ass. Nothing happens."

"Anna, be quiet."

With an eye roll, Anna crossed her arms over her chest and looked back over her shoulder at the table. She locked eyes accidentally with Velma and they both smiled awkwardly at each other. It made Anna's stomach twist with nerves.

She turned back to her brothers when she heard Dean gasp and say, "How dare you!"

"And hitting on Daphne when she's clearly with Fred," Sam said. Everything about his demeanor was unapologetic as he looked at Dean.

Anna wrinkled her nose. She supposed, upon recalculating, that Daphne and Fred _had_ been acting a bit like a couple back at the table, but it just seemed sad to her. She felt like Daphne could do so much better. Then again, maybe she was biased against Fred because he was lame and his plans always sucked.

"She's settling, alright?"

"I don't care, Dean. We need to be worried about getting out of here."

"Last time we got zapped into TV, we got out by playing our part. This is probably like that. The gang, they're about to get a mystery."

As if on queue, Fred said loudly, "I don't know, gang. Sounds like this could be the start of a mystery."

"You know, uh, we're actually mystery solvers too," Dean said, striding back up to the table. "Mind if we tag along?"

"That sounds like a swell idea," Fred said cheerfully. "In fact, I think it's high time we hit the road."

"You know what that means?" Shaggy said.

"Uh-huh," Scooby cheered.

"Road food!" they said together.

They moved their hands to the sides of the table and back a few times, and lettuce, bread, tomato, cheese, and condiments came out of nowhere. Shortly thereafter, both Shaggy and Scooby had sandwiches as tall as themselves resting on the table in front of them. Anna gaped at the food. Not only were those things freakin' _huge_ , but they'd taken seconds to come together even without any ingredients having been present on the table a minute ago. She could only dream of having that ability in the real world. She so often craved a cup of coffee or a plate of waffles, and if she could just pull those things out of thin air, life would be made a thousand times easier.

"Oh, heck yes!" Dean exclaimed, not wasting the time Anna did thinking before he tried it out himself. He made his own sandwich just as quickly as the other two had, and his jaw unhinged so he could shove the whole thing in his mouth. "Guys! Guys!" he called around his sandwich, pointing at his face. "Look how big my mouth is!"

Anna laughed, but Sam elbowed her and rolled his eyes at Dean. So much for pulling that stick out of his nether regions.

They all slid out of the booth and started walking toward the door. Anna noticed peripherally that Velma was watching Sam, and her heart dropped. She hadn't even thought about the possibility that Velma might be straight. But she was clearly very interested in Sam by the way she was eyeing him, and Anna couldn't ignore that.

The thought slipped from her mind as she felt eyes on her. She frowned and then realized that Shaggy was staring at her. She looked at him, and he immediately turned away, face reddening as he ducked behind Scooby so she couldn't see him. Anna blushed just as red and slapped a hand to her mouth. This had just gotten ten times more complicated, and she hadn't even said two words to Velma yet.

She nudged Sam's arm as they stepped outside into the parking lot. "Stop being attractive, would you?" she requested bitterly.

Sam looked down at her in total bewilderment. Anna gestured nonchalantly at Velma with her head. When Sam looked her way, Velma looked quickly in another direction. "Are you serious?" Sam asked in the next second. "First Dean can't keep his head in the game and now you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry if Velma's freakin' _perfect_ , Sam."

"These people are all pushing thirty, Anna. She's too old for you."

Anna crossed her arms over her chest. Normally, she would agree with him. She was mature for her age, she liked to think, and intelligent. She could handle herself really well. But she had no desire to date anyone that much older than her. It was just kinda... weird. But she wasn't normally a chaser either. She preferred to let herself meet people who were attracted to her. She figured that if something was meant to be, a relationship would find her. She was bending every rule in the book for Velma, because she knew they wouldn't be here for long. Not only was it the time constraint, but there was something about being a cartoon that just made the age difference seem to disappear. Velma didn't look that much older than her, though Anna did look a bit more kid-ish in her features than any of the others.

"She's not that old. And it's not like anything's gonna happen. Ace," she said, gesturing to herself. "Remember? And we won't be here that long anyway. I just want, like, a shot. But she's staring at _you_."

Sam took her by the shoulders as they reached the passenger side of the Impala. "Ladybug, I'm not doing _anything_. Maybe you need to take this as an indicator that she's _too old for you_."

He climbed into the passenger seat, leaving Anna standing dejectedly with her arms still crossed over her chest. She glanced over to the Mystery Machine where everyone had already piled in, their heads blurrily visible through the windows. "Dammit," she grumbled under her breath. She realized she'd cussed, remember Dean's PG language inside, and shook her head at herself. "I suck at being a cartoon character."

She got in the backseat at the same time as Dean got into the driver's seat. They pulled out of the parking lot behind the Mystery Machine and almost instantly hit a red light. Both vehicles idled there, and Sam rolled down his window as Fred rolled down his so that they could talk between the two cars.

"Hey, why don't you guys follow us up to the Colonel's mansion," Fred suggested in his usual obnoxiously cheery tone of voice.

"I don't know, Freddie," Dean goaded. "I'm not sure Baby can go that slow."

Anna slouched in the backseat with a hand over her face. Dean's rivalry with Fred had been out of hand since they second they arrived in cartoon land, but if he was about to get in a street race with the guy...

"Well, the Mystery Machine is a lot faster than it looks."

"We believe you," Anna waved from the backseat, but Dean sidled toward the passenger window on the seat and leaned down to see out the window at Fred's friendly face.

"No, let's test that theory. We'll see who can get there first. Or are you chicken?"

"Well, I'm game if you are," Fred agreed. He was being good-natured about it, and it only served to annoy both Anna and Dean. Sam seemed annoyed by the entire conversation.

They rolled up their windows, and Sam smacked Dean's arm with the back of his hand to get his attention. "Why do you hate Fred so much?"

"He thinks he's so cool," Dean complained. "With his perfect hair, his can-do attitude, his stupid ascot."

"The can-do attitude thing is definitely annoying," Anna agreed. "You got us into this, so you better wipe the floor with this guy."

Dean winked at her in the rearview mirror and revved the Impala's engine. The Mystery Machine made a similar noise beside them. In the same microsecond as the light turned green, the Mystery Machine jolted past the lights and down the road ahead of them, leaving a cloud of dark smoke around the Impala.

Sam smirked at Dean. "Did you just get beat by a microvan?"

Dean looked devastated. "The light was red," he insisted as they continued to sit at the intersection. "It was red."

Anna leaned over the seat to give him a pat on the shoulder that probably felt more patronizing than comforting. "Don't feel bad, man," she said. "It's Fred's cartoon. He had an unfair advantage."

Dean just glared out the windshield and hit the gas.

()()()

"All I'm saying," Dean continued to argue as they got out of the car fifteen minutes later. "Is that, aerodynamically speaking, there's no way my Baby should lose to... that. Unless Fred cheated. Which he clearly did."

"He can't cheat the laws of physics," Anna said for the tenth time. "He's just used to being a cartoon. He knows the turf."

"There's still no _way_ -"

"Dean. Get over it," Sam said with far less sympathy than Anna.

"No," Dean said pettily. As they all started to walk toward the mansion which loomed overhead like they were in a cartoon horror flick, Dean's attitude suddenly changed from pouty to excited. " _A Night of Fright Is No Delight_ ," he said.

"What, you're speakin' in rhymes now?"

He looked at Anna in confusion. "What? No. That's the episode we're in. I've seen it, like, a million times."

Anna adopted the look of bewilderment Dean had only given her moments before. "You seriously remember _Scooby-Doo_ episode titles just by getting a look at the setting? Dude, not to yuck your yum, but get a hobby. An adult hobby."

"This coming from the kid who knows every word to every episode in the first season of the Doctor Who reboot."

Anna scoffed, offended, as Dean walked away. "Eccleston is underrated!" she called after him defensively.

As they stepped inside, the whole vibe of the mansion got only creepier. They all took their seats in the small audience set-up of chairs in the front room. The scooby gang sat in the row in front of them. In the front of them, a tall man stood beside a desk where a record player sat silent.

"Attention, everybody," he said, not that there had been any chatter to speak of. "As you all know, I am Cosgood Creeps." Anna snorted at the name, but she quickly covered it by pretending to sneeze when she realized she'd drawn attention. "Attorney," said Cosgood, "of the late Colonel Sanders." Anna once again had to fight not to laugh at that. The guy was named after KFC, but he was also dead. Cosgood set a briefcase down on the desk beside him. "My client was a bit odd," he explained. "His only directions were to play this record for you." He reached into the briefcase and came up with a record which he placed carefully into the player on the desk.

"Yeah," Dean approved. "Classic vinyl."

" _Greetin's y'all!_ " the Colonel's voice came from the record player. " _Cousin Simple, Nephew Norble, Sweet Cousin Maldahyde, and my old friend, Scooby Doo. You're all gonna receive an equal share of one million dollars providin' you spend tonight here in the old family mansion. Oh, one more thing- the house is haunted._ "

"Haunted?" Sam repeated.

"Haunted?" Scooby echoed with a gulp.

" _Yes,_ " said the Colonel from the record player. " _Haunted. And if any of you can't make it through the night, his or her share of my fortune will go to the others. Now good night and pleasant dreams, y'all._ "

"Oh, boy," Scooby said dreadfully. He was sitting right in front of her, and Anna felt bad for him, so she reached out to give him a comforting pat, and he seemed to appreciate it. She couldn't really be sure, though. Scooby was a hard read.

Cosgood put the record back in the briefcase he'd entered with and left the room. The Colonel's relatives filed out of the room, leaving the scooby gang and the Winchesters alone.

"What kind of a weirdo sets all this up?" Sam remarked to his siblings. "I mean, spend the night in a haunted house for one million dollars? That can't be legal."

Anna rolled her eyes and crossed her arms. "The guy's dead. What does he care about the legal ramifications of what he does with his inheritance?"

"Anyway, Sam, come on. The house isn't really haunted," Velma said from behind them, startling Anna. She turned around, dropping her arms to her sides and straightening. She put on a more open expression.

"Yeah, Sam, jeez," she agreed, shaking her head at him and crossing her arms again.

"I'm not-" Sam started, giving Anna a dirty look.

"And things like this happen all the time," Velma added seriously.

"Yeah, maybe in car-" Dean slapped his hand over Sam's mouth before he could finish his sentence.

"Wow, I'm sorry," Anna said and walked a few steps with Velma in order to guide her away from her brothers. "I don't know why he's acting like that."

"That's alright. He actually seems like a great guy. Just not quite skeptical enough, if you ask me."

"I hear you," Anna agreed.

Velma walked away, and Anna sighed. She wasn't good at romance, and she wasn't good at impressing people, and she was starting to think she was just incapable of getting Velma's attention at all. She turned back to Sam and Dean, feeling disheartened.

"You too," Dean said to her the second she was in their circle again. "No telling these guys they're in a C-word. And no talkin' about hunting or monsters or anything like that. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"They are pure and innocent and good, and we're gonna keep it that way."

"We get it, Dean."

"Look, if you've seen this episode, why can't we just skip to the end?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, for real. I'm getting bored."

"Sometimes it's about the journey and not the destination," Dean replied, patting Anna on the shoulder as if giving real life advice and not just spewing BS to get out of answering them.

"Is it that, or do you just want more time to try and get with Daphne?" Sam challenged.

"Do not ruin this for me!"

Anna sighed. She understood his position better and better with every passing minute. After all, she was also really hoping for some affection from somebody who had their eyes on somebody else. But she didn't understand how in the world Dean felt comfortable being so forward. Or how he could stay so determined when he was being ignored.

In the next room, they stood in the crowd again to listen to what Cosgood was saying. "I'll return to the house in the morning to find out which of you remain, if any," he said and laughed increasingly maniacally.

"Turns out," Dean said, leaning in between Anna and Sam. "He's the bad guy."

"You don't say," they answered at the same time, both their voices dripping with sarcasm.

"Ten o'clock," one of the relatives said. "I suggest we turn in."

"So, Daphne," Dean said and stepped over to her. "Old drafty house." He wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "What do you say we bunk together?" Anna had to work to keep her expression straight upon hearing that. Dean _certainly_ wasn't worried about being direct.

"Oh, Dean," Daphne giggled. "Boys and girls don't sleep in the same room, silly. Come on, Velma." She put a hand on Anna's arm as she passed her. " _You_ can bunk with us," she offered.

Anna's eyes widened, but she let herself be dragged along, realizing that she might actually have the opportunity to talk to Velma more privately this way.

"I don't think so," Sam said, though, and grabbed her by the back of her collar to tug her back toward him and Dean. "Family's an exception," he explained to Daphne and Velma.

"Of course," Velma agreed and gave Anna a conciliatory pat on the arm.

Anna elbowed Sam in the ribs as soon as they were out of hearing distance. "What was that for?" she demanded of him.

"Ow," Sam complained. "If we're spending the night in a haunted house where nobody's expected to make it through the night, then you're not sharing a room with two total strangers."

"Oh, so this is _that_ old routine," Anna said impatiently.

"Don't start with that right now."

"Me don't start with that? You don't start. I was finally gonna talk to her-"

"Anna, I said it once, and I'll say it again. Velma's too old for you, and it's not gonna happen. Can you please just focus on this case so we can all make it through this alive and get outta here?"

Anna grit her teeth as she glared at her brother. She was tired of the protectiveness and even more tired of the reprimands over how she was too young for this or that. But she did know that Sam was right on some counts. They _did_ need to worry about their survival tonight. And they _did_ need to figure out a way to get out of _Scooby Doo_ land eventually. Since Dean was occupying himself by chasing after Daphne, Anna felt an obligation to help Sam surface.

"Fine," she said. "But I still think you're being dumb about this."

()()()

In their room, Anna lay on her stomach in bed, wrangling her hair into a messy bun so her curls wouldn't get too frizzy when she went to sleep. She wasn't sure if that should even be a real concern for a cartoon character, but her hair was obstinate on a good day, and she was taking no chances with it.

Across the room from her, Dean sat in a chair with a sandwich in his hands. Anna hadn't even really felt hungry since getting here, and she figured that was a symptom of being turned into a cartoon, but Dean was really into cartoon food, apparently. But Dean was living it up here in every way. He'd put on a nightshirt-- something he'd never be caught dead wearing back home-- and he'd really just embraced their situation from the start.

Sam stood behind their brother and groaned. "Dude. Is that all you're gonna do? Eat?"

"Relax," Dean said and rolled his eyes. "In a few minutes, we're gonna find out that Cousin Simple's missing, the Scoobys are gonna think that it's a ghost, but really, it's just the lawyer Cosgood Creeps in disguise."

"Man, you weren't kidding about knowing this episode," Anna said and sat back on her heels as she finished putting her hair up. Just as she was dropping her arms to her sides, a scream sounded from somewhere in the house.

"Told ya," Dean said cooly before they all ran to the doorway of the room in their PJs.

The scooby gang met them in the hallway. "Come on, gang. Let's go check it out!" Fred said in his usual chipper voice-- a voice which was so not appropriate for chasing screams in the middle of the night-- and everyone raced to the room where the scream had come from. Sure enough, it was Cousin Simple's room, and the guy's body was lying on his bed looking very dead.

Daphne laid a hand on his shoulder, and a wet sound came from the body. "Oh, no!" she shouted.

"Wait, wait, wait," Dean said. Anna and Sam both looked at him in question. He'd predicted this. "The dummy bodies don't show up until later."

Anna looked slowly from Dean back to the body as Sam knelt beside it and touched something beside the body that was just out of their sight. "Dean, this isn't a dummy," he said, voice rising in alarm. "This is blood." He held up his fingers, and a tacky red substance coated them. He pulled off the blanket that had been covering the body, revealing that the bed and Cousin Simple's body were covered in blood. "He's- He's dead," Sam said. "Like- like, really, actually dead."

The gang all chimed in:

"Jinkies!"

"Jeepers!"

"Zoinks!"

"Ruh-Roh!"

Anna looked at Dean, waiting for him to come up with an answer, a plan... something that would cure the pit of dread forming in her stomach. Instead he just said, "Son of a bitch."

The room was silent for only a moment before Fred smiled and said, "Well, gang, it looks like we've got another mystery on our hands."

Sam looked at him in disgust. "Are you kidding me, Fred? Dude, someone's dead. A little respect."

"Yeah, Fred," Dean exaggerated then looked to Daphne. "He can be such a jerk. Right, Daphne?"

Daphne smiled, "Not really."

"How many strikes is that now?" Anna asked, holding up her fingers and pretending to count.

"Shut up."

Velma came to stand beside them. "We should look for evidence."

"Huh?" said Scooby.

"Like fingerprints and fluids," Velma explained.

"Fluids?" Sam repeated in utter confusion.

Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby left, presumably to look for... fluids? As soon as they were gone, Dean grabbed both of his siblings by the arm to pull them into a huddle. "This is not the way things went down in the episode. I remember everything that happened in Scooby-Doo, and no one ever got stabbed in the back and ended up in a pool of their own blood."

"That would kinda put a damper on the G rating," Anna deadpanned. They all looked over at the body on the bed. It certainly wasn't anything one would see in a show made for kids.

"Okay, here's what I find concerning about this," Sam said, drawing their attention back to him. "If that guy can die for real in this cartoon." He pointed at the body and then gestured to himself. "That means we can too."

"It doesn't matter if _we_ die," Dean joked. "Scooby Doo could die! And that's not happening! Not on my watch. I'd take a bullet for that dog."

Anna pursed her lips at Dean's attitude. But she felt oddly comforted anyway. At least Dean's head was a little more in the game now. And even better... they had a real hunt, and there wasn't any possible way she could be shoved to the side or left in the car this time.

()()()

"There has to be a logical explanation for what's going on," Velma insisted.

Shaggy looked at her like she was crazy. " _Besides_ a ghost hunting us down to collect an inheritance?"

Scooby nodded frantically. "Yeah, what he said."

"What would a ghost need with money?" Daphne said reasonably.

"Precisely," Velma agreed, moving slowly around the room as if searching for something. Outside, lightning flashed, illuminating the room every so often. "And besides, there's no such thing as ghosts."

Anna looked over at her nervously. She sincerely hoped that Velma wasn't about to get a rude awakening. "Totally," she said, more for the sake of sparing some innocence this time than for the sake of making an impression with Velma.

"So once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth."

"Look!" Shaggy hollered, pointing at the window in total freakout mode. A glance out the window told Anna there was somebody approaching and that they were planning to enter the house through the window.

She watched as Sam and Dean carefully got into position on either side of the window, preparing to catch the stranger as soon as he came inside. They didn't have the chance, though. The second the guy came in, Fred jumped him from the side, completely ignoring the preparations Sam and Dean had made. Anna couldn't help but laugh a little to herself at the little fail. Fred and the stranger fell apart, but the intruder was caught in the curtain from the window and making very cartoon-ish attempts to get out of it, kicking and punching, but not escaping.

Dean dove in and punched at the guy, who only yelled through the curtain. "Not today, Freak!" Dean yelled back. He yanked the curtain off of the stranger with one hand, and Anna gasped and then grinned.

"Cas?" the boys said together.

"Cas!" she greeted excitedly and raced over to him.

Shaggy looked between them in shock and fear. "Like, you know this guy?"

"Uh, yeah," Sam said slowly. "He's a- He's a friend of ours."

"Neat-o!" Daphne exclaimed.

Anna really wanted to tell these guys collectively that not everything was cause for either celebration or devastation, but she figured that might fit into the category of things she wasn't supposed to say to them according to Dean's rules, so she instead focused on helping Cas stand up.

"Castiel," Dean said and gestured to everyone else in the room. "The scooby gang."

"Castiel?" Shaggy repeated. "It sounds like a great Italian pizza place."

"Uh, it's a pleasure to meet you," Cas replied, frowning like he didn't quite understand what he was looking at.

"Nice to meet you too," Scooby said.

Cas' confusion deepened, and he looked with alarm to the Winchesters. "Dean, this dog is talking."

"Yep."

"Cas, how'd you get here?" Sam asked.

Castiel explained how he'd returned from obtaining fruit from the Tree of Life to find the bunker empty and had eventually been sucked into the TV, same as the Winchesters. He'd been trying to catch up to them since they first left the malt shop, and he'd nearly done it at that stop light, but he hadn't been able to get their attention in time to keep them from driving off without him.

"You saw purple sparks? That's like the killer stuffed dinosaur," Sam said thoughtfully. "And they were both in that pawn shop. Maybe this is all connected."

"Um..." Velma walked up to them looking beyond skeptical. "Killer stuffed dinosaur?"

Anna dropped her face into the palm of her hand. They'd stepped in it.

"Oh, I-I didn't mean a _real_ -" Sam stuttered.

"It's a book we're writing," Dean jumped in. "Yeah, about... killer stuffed dinosaurs. It's called."

" _The Killer Stuffed Dinosaur in Love_ ," Cas finished the lie for them.

"Huh," said Fred. "Great title."

Anna nodded along stiffly, feeling both relieved and astonished that the gang had bought _that_ lie.

"Yeah," Scooby agreed. "Great title."

"Well, if he isn't responsible for Cousin Simple's death," Daphne said and gestured to Cas. "Who is?"

Glad that they were back on track, Anna bit her lip and started thinking. Dean already knew who the culprit was _supposed_ to be in this episode, but Cosgood was supposed to be gone, and he wasn't supposed to have actually really killed anyone. Before she could get any deeper in thought, the lights in the room began to flicker. "Shit," she murmured and felt a hand on her arm before she was tugged sideways. She nearly jumped out of her skin before realizing that it was just Dean.

"Like, somebody turn up the heat in here, man," Shaggy complained. "It's getting cold."

No sooner had he spoken than a growling sound echoed from somewhere nearby. "Not good," Anna muttered and looked around, but they were all still alone in the room.

Beside her, Dean and Sam both pulled flashlights out of their pockets, and across the room, Velma lit an oil lamp. Slowly, everyone filed out of the room, looking around cautiously as they began to move down the hallway.

An open window let in a cool draft from outside, making several of them shiver as they passed it. Shaggy and Scooby made sounds behind her, and Anna glanced at them, following their gazes until she saw the ghostly handprints that had appeared on the window pane. "That's not creepy at all," she mumbled and skittered a little closer to the closest flashlight-- not out of fear, she told herself when she realized that she'd moved, but just because it was smarter to stay near the light in case something were to happen.

As they continued moving forward, they came upon a door that had been left ajar. There was a sliver of light coming from inside, giving it both an eerie appearance and an air of hopefulness.

"Sam. Anna." Dean pointed loosely at the door just as an ominous voice began to echo from deep inside the house again.

" _No! Ah! Oh!_ "

Anna wondered how it was possible for this to feel so much like a cartoon and yet so much like they were literally about to die. Her thought was interrupted by all the doors in the hallway suddenly slamming shut at the same time, making everyone jump about a foot in the air. If she didn't know better, Anna would have thought the ghost was purposely trying to screw with them. But this was cartoon land, and ghosts probably just tended to behave this way over here.

Curiously, she moved forward and wrapped her hand around the doorknob to the door they'd been looking at before. Just as her fingers brushed the doorknob, a glowing, ethereal purple hand materialized through the door and made a grab for her. Anna shrieked and jumped back, bumping into Sam who dropped his flashlight. The rest of the ghost followed the hand, appearing in front of them in the hallway.

"Ph-ph-ph-ph-phantom!" Shaggy cried, pointing frantically at it as if they all weren't already aware of what was happening.

"Aah!" Scooby yelped and jumped into Shaggy's arms. But Shaggy was scared too and immediately jumped into Cas' arms while still holding Scooby.

"Alright, we're on," Dean said, patting both his siblings on the shoulder.

But, once again, before they could formulate a plan or take any action, Fred jumped right into the fray. His move was to grab the phantom with both hands.

"Bro," Anna exclaimed. Fred was gonna get himself killed, and that would be a bad look all around. Part of their job while they were here was to protect the scooby gang, and that included the lamest of its members. "That's not how you ghost-hunt."

Of course, Fred's hands went right through the ghost, and he shivered at the cold of the spirit, but he didn't learn his lesson. He leapt for the spirit again while making what sounded like fight sounds from a kid's video game and, again, went right through it, landing hard on the floor.

Anna jumped in to try and help him up while Sam and Dean moved toward the ghost. Presumably, they had some salt in their pockets or something, because she knew they weren't stupid enough to pull a Fred and just jump the stupid thing. The ghost swiped at them, leaving deep claw marks in the wall that spanned nearly the length of a human body. This thing really _was_ deadly.

Just as Anna pulled Fred to his feet, he lunged at the ghost again, yelling, "Gotcha!"

" _Dude_ ," she said, beyond exasperated.

Fortunately for Fred, the phantom disappeared through the wall. "Huh?" Fred exclaimed and scratched at his head.

"And he's surprised that it didn't work," Anna groaned, looking at Sam. But nobody heard her.

"Wait, what?" Dean moved forward to look at the wall the thing had gone through.

Scooby, still cowering in Castiel's arms, cried, "G-g-g-g-ghost!"

"Guys, no," Velma said calmly, stepping into the middle of everybody. "It's not a ghost."

The lights suddenly came back on, and Cas dropped Shaggy and Scooby to stand on their own feet-- and paws-- again. Anna looked up in confusion at the lights. Why was the spirit leaving them alone? What did it have to gain by prolonging this? Was it playing with them? Or were the rules simply different, because they were in a cartoon and not the real world?

"Oh, yeah?" Shaggy challenged. "Then, man, how did he just walk through that wall?"

"Well, there's probably a hidden door."

Anna bobbed her head at that theory. It wasn't accurate, but if this had been any other episode of Scooby-Doo instead of the Winchester version, Velma probably would have been right. She was totally the brains of the operation.

"Well, whatever it was, it's gone now," Fred said. "It looks like he was coming out of here."

He opened the door that Anna had been about to open when the ghost showed up before. They all crowded around the doorway, and Anna's jaw dropped at the sight that met them when the door swung open. Cosgood Creeps lay inside, his body in pieces and covered in gore. She put a hand over her mouth, feeling a bit nauseous.

"Well, that's not good," was all Fred had to say.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Dean muttered.

"Come on, gang!" Fred said cheerfully and led everyone away from the doorway, but the Winchesters all stood gaping after them.

"So, do they always just walk away from dead bodies?" Sam asked.

"Sam, the cold spot, the fritzing-"

"The way it came through the door and the walls," Anna added.

"That was a ghost. Our kind of ghost. I think this cartoon is haunted," Dean finished. They moved over to stand by the scooby gang again. "Alright, Prepmeister Fred. What's your plan?"

Fred lifted one finger as if about to present a winning idea. "We should all split up and search the house for clues!"

"That's a plan?" Cas murmured in genuine confusion.

Anna patted him on the shoulder. Poor angel had a hard time understanding the choices people made in the real world, and he was being thrust into a world that made even less sense. "Just go with it," she suggested sympathetically.

Dean looked disapprovingly at Fred but didn't say anything. Sam shook his head, looking as confused as Cas. "I don't think we should separate. It'll be easier for Dean and me to keep you safe if we're all together."

Anna gave him a dull look. What was she, chopped liver?

"Really, Sam?" Velma said. "I wouldn't expect such a big, broad-shouldered man like you to be as chicken as Shaggy." Anna grinned, thinking how savage Velma was being to her brother. "No offense, Shaggy."

"Like, none taken."

Sam looked to his siblings. "If this is a real ghost, these guys are in trouble. We can't let anything happen to them."

"Okay, so, for now, let's follow Ascot Boy's lead." He looked at Anna. "Stick with Sam," he ordered before turning back to the gang. "I call team up with Daphne!"

"Great!" said Fred. "It'll be just the three of us."

Anna pursed her lips, feeling like she'd been demoted to protected instead of protector again.

"Sam and I will check the attic," Velma volunteered, and suddenly Anna felt better about being forced to go with Sam. "I mean, unless you're too scared."

"What? No. I'm- Let's check the attic."

Anna stepped up next to Velma with a conspiratory smile. "He's too easy." Velma gave her a friendly smile but didn't say anything. It felt like a rejection, but Anna forced herself to set it aside. Not everything had to be an indicator of her chances with Velma, she reminded herself. And anyway, they were here for the case.

"So, I guess this is your first mystery," Velma said as they walked up the stairs to the attic. She looked at Sam while they entered the attic which was thoroughly decked out in cobwebs and filled with junk. "So, if you could keep those linebacker shoulders from knocking over any clues, that'd be great."

Anna looked purposefully away, feeling invisible. Why did she have to be so short and plain? Why did Velma have to be attracted to her stupid, giant, perfect brother? It was all just so not fair.

Sam seemed to catch her change of mood. He met her eyes before asking Velma, "Why do you keep talking about my shoulders?"

Anna couldn't help the little smile that crossed over her face briefly as Velma stuttered and couldn't come up with an answer.

Sam shone his flashlight around the room, and when the beam landed on a mannequin, it startled him enough to make him jump back. He fell down, jostling a shelf nearby and dislodging a can from its place there to fall and hit him on the head.

Anna laughed at him, and Velma badgered, "Maybe that was the ghost."

Sam stood up, looking scornfully at both his sister and Velma. Anna felt a little bad for making fun of him when they really should have been on the same team. But it did feel really good to be on the same page as Velma for once. "Look," Sam said. "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but-"

"Sam!" Anna interrupted, but he went on anyway.

"But ghosts are real."

"Huh?" Velma reacted, looking beyond perplexed.

"Our family, we hunt them. Along with vampires, werewolves, and demons. We've saved the world. A lot."

Anna looked nervously between Sam and Velma, waiting for the inevitable explosion of questions and terror that they usually got when they revealed the truth to somebody. She couldn't believe he'd gone and told, and she figured it would be rather cathartic when Dean kicked their brother's ass for this.

But Velma burst out laughing, doubling over with it. "Look, Sam, the simple fact is monsters are nothing more than crooks in masks. Usually unscrupulous real estate investors."

"Okay, one," Sam said, disgruntled. "There are way better real estate scams-"

"That's true," Anna amended.

"Hey!" Velma exclaimed. "A clue!"

Anna decided she was never going to get used to hearing people talk like that. Velma shone her light on a chest in the corner of the attic. There was a teddy bear and a pile of blocks resting on it, but there was also a bunch of black goo covering it and the floor around it. They all walked over for a closer look.

"That's strange," Velma and Sam said at the same time.

"I guess we both noticed that these toys are the only thing up here not covered in dust," Velma said, looking at Sam with a pleased expression.

Anna made a gagging motion with her finger even though she was behind the other two, and nobody could see her.

"Actually," Sam said. "I was noticing this." He touched the black goo and held it up on his fingers for a better view.

"Is that-?" Anna started.

"Ectoplasm. This gets left behind by ghosts." And specifically, it was often left behind by the most dangerous or powerful ghosts, the ones with real grudges to bear and lots of experience in the veil.

"Oh, stop already!" Velma said. It sounded like she was losing patience with what she clearly thought was an illogical belief. "You can't really believe in ghosts."

"Velma, he's right," Anna said just before the toys on the chest suddenly began to emanate a purple glow. "Hot da-" Sam pushed her and Velma both back from the haunted objects before she could finish what she was saying.

"Told you," he bragged as they all ran for the door. The toys were thrown after them, narrowly missing each of their heads as they escaped the attic.

Velma remained steadfast, though. "It's not a ghost!" she argued. "It's probably just Christmas lights and a fishing line."

As they got downstairs, they realized that they weren't the only ones being confronted by the ghost. Everybody else, still separated into their groups of three, was running from the phantom as well.

Anna startled when the ghost appeared in front of them again when they entered a bedroom downstairs looking for Dean. "Aah!" she yelped, and her shout seemed to queue the music that was suddenly playing from who knew where. It wasn't just any song, either. It was the _Scooby-Doo_ theme song. "Could this get more meta?" she yelled as they started to run.

The group ran in and out of rooms, sometimes passing the other groups in the hallway, sometimes running into the phantom, and sometimes crashing into each other and nearly falling over. All the while, the song continued to play over them. Eventually, they all ran into the hallway and headed for the main part of the house. Just before the entrance to the front room, all three of the groups met again, and they all crashed into each other, ending up in a heap of cartoon arms and legs.

"Ow," Anna grumbled, hearing several discontented sounds as everyone tried to untangle themselves from each other. She felt Scooby's paw get tangled in her hair, and her head was tugged backward, but instead of popping, her neck stretched cartoon style until Scooby's paw detached from her hair. She sat, stunned for a minute, before realizing most everybody had gotten up. She grabbed Dean's outstretched hand and let him pull her to her feet, feeling shook.

The very second they were all on their feet again, though, the lights flickered out once more, and everybody started running again. They found a big room to pile into and closed the door, hoping the ghost would leave them alone.

"We need to stop this ghost!" Fred yelled.

"We almost did," Daphne replied. "Dean had him by the thigh?"

"You what?" Cas stepped out from behind Shaggy.

"I almost caught him," Dean dismissed. "That's what matters."

"Guys, come on," Velma said. "For the last time, there's no such thing as ghosts." Even as she spoke, her breath turned visible in the air and the lenses of her glasses froze over with cold. "Oh no!" Anna moved to stand next to her in case something were to happen. A banging sound came from the door before it suddenly busted open and the same purple phantom from before came in. "That costume looks really real."

"I'll get him," Fred declared heroically.

"Fred, don't!" Sam shouted, making a grab for him before he could try again to attack the ghost in a way that was beyond idiotic. He couldn't grab him in time, though, and Fred ran directly at the ghost. He didn't get close this time. Instead, the spirit threw him against the wall without even touching him.

"Fred!" Daphne cried.

Suddenly, Velma and Daphne were both lifted off the floor so that they hovered in the air. They both made surprised sounds before they were moved back and held against the wall, their feet not touching the ground.

"Velma," Anna breathed. Fortunately, the spirit didn't seem like it was trying too hard to hurt them. She started looking around for something made of iron or even just a stray salt packet. She saw two iron candle holders and moved toward them, taking a second to yank the candles out of them.

"Like, that's our queue to get outta here," Shaggy cried and started to run for the door. But the ghost didn't let him get far. It held him where he was and then threw him. He went right through the glass of the window pane on the other side of the room and fell.

"Shaggy!" they all yelled in horror.

"Iron," Anna shouted and tossed a candle holder to Sam. In a smooth, identical motion, she and Sam both threw their candle holders at the ghost. Instead of dissipating as expected, the ghost froze as the iron got stuck in its back. It sparked purple around the iron and began to shout like it was in agony. After a few seconds of this, the room flashed with purple light, and the ghost disappeared.

Daphne and Velma fell away from the wall, but Sam and Dean caught them before they could hit the floor. On the other side of the room, Fred was sitting up, groaning in pain. "What just happened?" he asked, sounding and looking very disoriented.

Scooby suddenly spoke up, looking terrified. "Where's Shaggy?"

"Over here!" Shaggy's voice hollered from outside the window. Everybody raced over to see where he was. Shaggy was dangling by a metal beam a ways down outside the window, but the beam looked unsteady, swaying back and forth. "Like, a little help?" But the beam didn't last. It broke before anybody could take another breath, and Shaggy fell.

"Shaggy!" Scooby hollered and dove out after his friend.

"Scooby!" Cas yelled and jumped out after him.

All Anna could see from above after that was that Scooby grabbed Shaggy's leg, Cas grabbed Scooby's, and then Cas' trenchcoat billowed out around them and caught the air like a parachute so that they floated more gently to the ground. They all ran around to go outside through the front door.

Outside, Shaggy was laying on the ground with Cas and Scooby leaning over him. "Shaggy!" Daphne cried as they got close. "Are you okay?"

"Like, do I look like I'm okay?"

"It appears that his arm is broken," Cas explained. Anna looked at the arm in question and her eyes widened. There was no doubt about it. His arm was discolored and bent at a strange angle with the bone showing.

"What?" Shaggy shook his head, face tight with distress. "I have jumped out of a biplane in a museum and was _fine_. How did this happen?"

"I- I don't know," Fred said, stunned. He looked down at the ground. "Something threw me across the room."

"Wires," Velma repeated to herself. "Probably just wires."

"Like, hello! Broken arm here!"

Velma knelt down by Shaggy. "Brace yourself," she warned him. Shaggy looked concerned, but Velma didn't give him time to dwell on it before she set his arm. He shouted in pain.

Daphne held out her hand. "Fred, give me your ascot." As soon as she had it, she pulled off her own scarf as well and she fashioned the two of them together into a sling then passed it to Velma to put on Shaggy's arm.

The air was thick with dread, and Anna could feel everybody's state of mind descending into chaos. "I think we have to tell them the truth," she said.

"What truth?" Daphne asked.

"The truth about the phantom," Sam added.

"Look." Dean held out his hands in a calming gesture. "This phantom isn't like other ghosts you've faced. It's real. It's a real ghost."

"Um, I'm not totally following you," Fred replied, and he seemed to speak for the whole gang as they all stared on with perplexed faces.

"Look, that isn't a guy in a mask and a costume," Sam told them. "It's a vengeful spirit who's come back from the dead."

Velma looked stunned. She pulled her glasses off and looked from Anna to Sam. "So everything you told me," she breathed. "It's true." Anna nodded, but she felt heartbroken watching Velma's reaction. "Werewolves? Vampires? Demons?" They all nodded. "I thought I was blind without my glasses, but I was just... blind."

"Velma-" Anna started, reaching out and hoping to provide some kind of reassurance, but she came up blank, and Velma turned away.

"Oh, how could I be so stupid?"

"That's not-"

"Are you kidding me?" Fred suddenly cried, banging his head against a wall. "My life is meaningless!"

"What?"

"If there are ghosts," Daphne said slowly, staring at them. "That means there's an afterlife. Heaven. Hell. Am I going to Hell?"

"We told told you every freaking time!" Shaggy cried out. "But did you ever listen to Scoob and me? No!"

"We're doomed," Scooby wailed.

"We broke the scooby gang," Anna whispered in horror, watching them all descend into madness.

"We did not-" Dean stepped around her and snapped, "Alright, knock it off! Come on!" He'd gotten everybody's attention, so he kept going. "The scooby gang does not have nervous breakdowns! Now you may not have tangled with the supernatural, but you've fought monsters, real freakin' psychos. You stopped Zeke and Zeb. Shaggy figured out that the sharks Old Iron Face rode were really just torpedoes disguised to look like sharks." he started, then kept listing episodes. " And what about the Black Knight? Huh? Mamba Wamba?"

"The Space Kook?" Sam added.

"I knew it," Dean called him out. "You love this show too." He looked back to the rest of the gang. "Space Kook, Ghost Clown, Miner 49er. You guys have all jumped into danger with no thought for yourselves. You're heroes, and together, we're gonna take down this phantom. Are you with me?"

"Yeah!" they all cheered.

"Let's do it!" Fred said, back to his usual too-cheerful self.

"But how?" Velma asked. "We don't know the first thing about fighting real ghosts. We don't have the proper tools or weapons."

"But we do," Anna said and winked conspiratorially at her.

Velma returned her smile, and Anna's heart warmed. In the span of a few seconds they'd gone from rock bottom to the best she'd felt since getting here. They took everybody over to the Impala and propped open the trunk's secret compartment, revealing the entire arsenal of weapons.

"Here, Velma," Sam said and passed her a shotgun filled with rocksalt pellets. "Take this."

"Sam, are you crazy," Dean snapped. "They can't use this stuff. That's a Scooby-Don't."

"Ew," Anna wrinkled her nose. "Don't say that. It's dumb." Dean shot her a bitchface.

"Dean, we've gotta do something," Fred insisted. "I mean, you guys are amazing!"

"Thank you, Fred," Dean said, and Anna could practically see his head grow three sizes.

"But we can help. We have to."

"Damn right you can." Dean patted Fred on the shoulder. "You're gonna do what you do best. Build a trap."

And build a trap they did.

"How's this work?" Anna asked as the finishing touches were being laid out inside.

Fred pointed to where Daphne was laying a final salt line on the other side of the room. "Well, you see, Daphne's covered all the exits except that one with salt. So the phantom will enter there, tripping the iron chain that'll activate the ax, which cuts the rope that holds the coconuts."

"Coconuts?" Anna repeated.

"Where did he get coconuts?" Sam asked.

Dean hushed both of them and motioned for Fred to continue explaining.

"The coconuts are gonna roll, tripping the phantom, sending him careening down a slide of soap, right into the washing machine which we'll secure with those iron chains."

"And with the ghost captured, we can finally find out what's going on," Sam said.

"Now all we need," Velma added, looking directly at Cas, Shaggy, and Scooby. "Is bait."

Everybody hid in different places around the room. Anna ducked down behind a giant stuffed bear with her brothers, and they peeked carefully around the sides. It actually gave them a great vantage point to watch from as the ghost entered the room chasing Shaggy, Scooby, and Cas. It seemed like things would go to plan, but then Cas and the other two were the ones who tripped on the coconuts, slid down the soap trail, and got caught in the washing machine.

"I told you it wasn't going to work," Sam grumbled.

"Yeah, Fred's plans never work," Dean replied. "Daphne, plan B! Operation Bookworm is a go!"

Everybody came out of hiding and ran in different directions, leaving the ghost frustrated and not knowing where to go. It ran into the next room and flipped a couch, revealing Fred, Daphne, and Velma crouching down behind it. They all screamed, but before the ghost could do anything, a book hit him in the back, causing purple sparks to fly from him.

Shaggy cheered. "Good shot, Scoob old buddy!" Anna looked in awe to the bookshelves where Scooby stood with a stack of books in his paws. "Give him another one!" The ghost turned to Shaggy, leaving his back wide open for more books to be thrown at him by Scooby.

With a roar, the ghost turned on Scooby and started forward.

"Now, Scooby!" Daphne yelled.

Scooby handed the ghost the pile of books he'd been holding, effectively distracting it. He used his tail to pull on a book on the shelf. It made a clicking sound, and a trap door opened directly under the ghost. It looked down, fell, and slid down a long slide into the basement of the mansion, only stopping when it hit what seemed to be an invisible wall.

Everybody gathered around the opening in the floor to watch and make sure the ghost was really stuck. When it became clear that he was, the Winchesters and Castiel went downstairs to deal with it. "That's a salt circle," Sam said as they approached the ghost. "You're trapped."

"Let. Me. Go," the ghost demanded.

Dean crossed his arms. "Happy to, Sparky, as soon as you tell us who you really are."

The ghost ignored him and simply continued running into the edges of the salt circle, desperately trying to escape. After several more attempts, it finally seemed to give up. It collapsed, falling to the floor, and finally took the shape of a little boy.

"Oh my god," Anna breathed sadly.

"It's... a child," Cas said.

"Yeah, creepy ghost kid," Dean said, but he sounded just as sad. "You get used to 'em."

"But... wait," Sam frowned. "Why are you trying to kill us?"

"I'm not," the ghost promised. "But the bad man, he makes me."

"The bad man?"

"His name is Jay."

Dean and Sam both looked like they were understanding, but Anna was still confused. "Who's Jay?" she asked.

"He's the dude from the pawn shop," Dean said.

"When I died," the ghost explained, "my soul was tied to a pocketknife. My dad gave it to me. It meant everything. When Jay found me, he used me to... Sometimes I get so angry, I break things, hurt people. But I don't want to." Sitting cross-legged now, the boy's spirit started to levitate in the middle of the circle. He looked so small and pitiful, it broke Anna's heart. Dean was right that she would probably get used to seeing ghost children, but for now... for now, it was sad. "I just wanna see my dad again."

"I'm so sorry," she told him.

"It was wrong of him to do that," Cas said.

Sam nodded seriously. "None of this was your fault."

"Look," Dean said. "If you get us back to the real world, we can set you free."

"Do you promise?"

Anna smiled. "Pinky promise."

With that taken care of, they told him that they needed a minute and stepped into the other room where the rest of the gang was waiting for them.

"Should I- should I make another trap?" Fred asked.

"I could get the shotgun!" Velma offered.

"I could get two shotguns!" Daphne added.

"Like, tell Scoob and me when it's over," Shaggy called.

"Yeah," Scooby agreed.

"This isn't right," Anna said, looking up at her brother with a plea in her eyes. She wanted them back to normal before they left to go back to their world.

"You're right, Runt. We can't leave 'em like this." He turned back to the ghost in the other room. "Kid, we need a favor."

They covered the ghost with a blanket and tied some rope around it in preparation for the scooby gang, then invited them into the basement.

"Did you send it back to the fiery pit from whence it came?" Fred asked.

"No need," Anna told him and patted his shoulder.

"It's all under control," Sam promised them. "Look." He gestured to the ghost that was all covered up.

"Ah!" the whole gang screamed. "Kill it with fire!"

"Woah! Slow your roll, guys," Dean placated. "We were wrong."

Everybody's shoulders fell. "Huh?"

Daphne frowned at Dean. "What are you- what are you saying?"

"Velma w-was right," Sam said.

"About everything," Anna agreed.

"Like, she was?"

"Yep. There was no ghost. We were all just tricked. But Velma wasn't. Right?" she nudged Velma's arm, and watched the life come back to her.

"I, uh... I don't know," she said, seeming to still feel unsure.

Dean smirked and dropped his arm around Anna's shoulders. "Hey, guys, do your thing. This is my favorite part."

Velma and Fred both walked over to the ghost, and Velma pulled off the blanket and rope. There was a collective gasp and the whole gang exclaimed, "Cosgood Creeps?"

"But... the flying," Daphne said.

"Wires," Sam explained.

"What about the walking through the walls?" Shaggy asked. "And the bodies?"

"Well that was just a projector. As for the bodies..."

"Dummies filled with corn syrup?" Velma guessed.

Sam nodded. "Exactly."

"Of course!" Fred said as if he'd known it all along. "Cosgood was trying to drive everyone from the house so he could get the money for himself."

"Right," Dean said. "But the joke's on him, because the money's useless." He gestured to the suitcase, and Fred opened it up. "It's all confederate dollars."

"Aw!" Scooby cried. "Oh well. Easy come, easy go."

Velma burst out laughing. "So... I was right," she said, walking over to Sam to pat him on the shoulder. "I told ya, you big lug. There's no such thing as the supernatural."

"Looks like you were right," Sam conceded. "And now we know."

Anna looked down at her feet, scrubbing the toe of her sneaker into the carpet. She was surprised when Velma stepped in front of her and Sam moved away to give them some privacy.

"It was nice to meet you, Anna," she said.

"Oh, yeah. You too," Anna replied, blushing needlessly. She knew this was her last chance, and she should really take it, say something. But she didn't have it in her. Surprisingly, though, she didn't need to.

"I saw you staring at me earlier," Velma told her. "I'm not stupid. I understand how you feel. But the simple fact is, I don't date younger women _or_ men."

Anna smiled a little. "I think that was the nicest rejection I've ever heard," she said, cheeks pink.

Velma put her hand on Anna's shoulder. "I know it can be hard finding the right person. Especially when you're queer and don't know where you'll be accepted and where you won't be."

"Tell me about it," Anna agreed whole-heartedly.

She'd dated a couple girls and a couple girls in her time, and being biromantic sometimes turned the boys away while her being asexual could sometimes turn boys _and_ girls away. Sometimes she wondered if she was destined to be alone for the rest of her life. It was a devastating thought.

"You'll find somebody eventually," Velma said. "So will I. But we're not it for each other. I just wanted to tell you, so you didn't think I was ignoring you before. I just couldn't lead you on, and I didn't know how to tell you."

"I understand," Anna said with a somber nod. "Thanks for that. You're right. It's hard. But I get it. And I'm glad I got to meet you. You're an inspiring character," she said decidedly and leaned in for a hug. In some ways that hug made her feel a lot better, and in some ways it only made her feel only more sad about the whole thing.

Sam walked over to them, seeming to sense that they'd finished their talk. "Great working with you, Velma," he said. Velma blushed red, and Anna had the feeling that, had she not been there, Velma and her brother would have done more than hug like they did.

"Maybe I should've tried for Velma," Dean contemplated as he and his siblings watched her go. Cas came over to stand next to them as they watched the whole scooby gang walk away. Finally, everybody was out of sight, and they turned back to the ghost, still in Cosgood Creeps form.

"We're ready," Cas said.

The spirit morphed back into the form of a little boy and a purple light formed a bubble around him. Anna stepped forward, standing between her brothers, and they all reached out one hand to touch the bubble. There was a sense of disorientation, a flash of purple life, and then the world was righted again.

They were back in the bunker, standing in their family room with the TV from the pawn shop resting on its stand in front of them. Anna inhaled deeply and looked down at herself, feeling her _real_ human arms and touching her face.

"Okay," Sam said beside her, heaving out a big breath of exhaustion. "That was..."

"Something," Anna finished with him.

"That was the coolest thing that's ever happened to me," Dean declared. "That includes the Cartwri-" He stopped talking when he locked eyes with Anna. He cleared his throat. "Never mind." Suddenly in a hurry, Dean made to leave the room.

"What did you do?" Cas called after him and followed him out.

"Be right back," Dean yelled over his shoulder.

"I don't think we wanna know," Sam said, slinging his arm around Anna's shoulders.

"Imma have to agree with you there." Anna sighed and sat down on the couch to look longingly at the huge screen in front of her. "We're really losing the giant TV, aren't we?"

"Well, considering the pocket knife that boy's spirit is tied to is probably inside of it... yeah. We're gonna have to break the TV."

Cas and Dean came back into the room, Dean with a blowtorch and a sledgehammer. He tossed the torch to Sam before coming around and pulling Anna up off the couch. "Stand back," he instructed. Once he saw that she was well out of the way, he readied the sledgehammer for a good swing and looked pitifully at the TV. "Well... Sorry, Sweetheart." It only took one hard swing for the TV's screen to smash and for the whole thing to hit the floor. Sure enough, as it broke into pieces, a small pocket knife came out.

Anna crouched down and picked it up while Dean set aside the sledgehammer. With a sad little sigh, she threw the thing to Sam, and he caught it easily. As she straightened her knees to stand again, the little boy's spirit appeared in front of them. The whole thing made her feel even more disheartened when she could see the kid in his fully human form. He looked so young, maybe only eight or nine with red hair, freckles, and big, sad eyes.

"Time to go, kid," Dean told him.

"What about the bad man?"

"Don't worry about him," Sam said. "We'll take care of him, alright?"

Sam set the pocketknife down on a metal tray and took the torch to it. Anna watched the little boy's spirit go up in flames.

It was quiet for a few minutes after the deed was done. "So... now what?" Anna asked, looking to Dean for an answer.

"Well, we're gonna head back to that pawn shop and take care of Jay," he answered, moving around her to stand between her and Sam. " _You_ , lucky girl, get to clean up the mess in here."

Anna's shoulders fell, and she narrowed her eyes at her brother. "If you think I'm so lucky, why don't you do it?"

"We'll help you when we get back," Sam promised as all three of them started to back away from her toward the doorway.

"Come on, why can't I come with?" Anna called after them.

"Next time," Sam told her. "Promise."

Anna watched in annoyance as they all left, then turned and looked at the remnants of the TV on the ground. "Ugh," she groaned and sat down on the couch again. She spent a few minutes staring at the glass and trying to convince herself to get up and start cleaning. Instead, though, a small smile began to spread over her face as she came up with a better way to spend her time.

She went out to the library, opened her laptop, and pulled up the Best Buy website. Their new TV was gonna cost $400, but it was just as beautiful as the one they'd just lost, and Anna figured Dean's latest fake credit card could stand the hit.

_La Fin_


End file.
